So. What if I asked you this same question: What are you longing for?Susan Cain Life is so subtle that sometimes you barely notice yourself walking through the doors you once prayed would open.**Brianna Wiest The tricycle kid is waiting for something amazing to happen,But maybe it already has. Transcendence can be subtle like that […]
What are you waiting for?
Describe your ideal week.
My ideal week is just being alive and well. I’m grateful for every day. That being said, if I could have an ideal week looking out my window at the Smoky Mountains, or the ocean, with nothing to do but write, eat, and ride roller coasters, that’d be great.
If you had to give up one word that you use regularly, what would it be?
I have a terrible tendency to start just about any sentence with the word well. I actually find the word showing up in dialogue in my fiction.
What brings a tear of joy to your eye?
Looking at photos of my pets who’ve gone to the Rainbow Bridge. I miss them.
I had a professor in college who often said, “Inspiration will fail you.” She was very right about that. Many authors wait around to be inspired. They wait for the muse to appear with an amazing idea, one that fills the page with vivid prose and vibrant action. And when inspiration fails to appear, those […]
Writers, Inspiration Will Fail You
STORM DWELLERS
Chapter 3 excerpt
Instead of diminishing, the smoke increased, the ground shimmered red hot where the lightning hit. Rain poured down; the ocean stirred violently, and waves rose. A supernatural storm surge rolled toward the island. Lightning struck the water and it roared and foamed in response. Water vapor rose high as the sand glowed as if it were boiling. The vapor turned into a thick, smoky wall. Multi-colored energy illuminated the sky, dancing with the radiance of a strobe light.
Lynn sprinted toward Darcy.
“Darcy, the PIN!”
“34343!” Darcy answered over the wind. “Benny! Move it. Run!!”
Lynn finally got the phone unlocked. She saw the GPS was on, so she opened the Facebook app and typed ‘help me s padre send cops’ on his timeline, tagging a few random people then hit the send button, then dialed her mother, Angela’s, number.
Benny screamed, “Darcy!” Then took off running, but in the wrong direction.
“No, Benny,” Darcy yelled, “go left. To your left!”
He veered left, but abruptly stopped once again. Directly in front of him, a gruesome, yellow-eyed creature emerged from a wall of smoke stemming from a magma puddle.
It was a sight to behold, and Lynn stood frozen with Benny’s phone to her ear, listening to her mother’s phone ringing; the ring staticky and broken.
“Hello?” Angela answered. “Ben…th…you? What’s that noi…”
“Mom?” Lynn said. “Mom, help us. We’re on SPI. Near UFO. Send help.”
“Lynn, why…you have Benny’s…” the phone crackled, “…on the island..”
“Mom, please, this is not a time for questions. I’m begging you, send help!”
“Help? To you?” Angela’s voice turned sinister. “You’re a big…girl…now, witch!”
“What the hell…” Lynn said.
The phone popped and sparked and got hot in Lynn’s hand. She pulled it away from her ear and dropped it onto the sand just as it burst into flames.
Lynn growled her frustration and stomped her foot on the phone dowsing the fire.
Copyright 2023 Wanda S. Paryla
STORM DWELLERS – an excerpt, chapter 2
“I don’t know,” Darcy said. “Maybe we should’ve invited Sam.”
“Can Sam make waterspouts?” Benny queried.
Darcy shrugged.
“I don’t know.”
“We can do this,” Sybil said. “It’ll only be for a few minutes. Once the sunrise is complete, it’ll be over.”
“Well, let’s just be careful, Sis,” Terry said.
Sybil hugged her.
“I’d never do anything that hurt us or our friends,” Sybil explained. “Never.”
“I’ll miss you when you go off to A & M in the fall,” Terry said, misty eyed.
“Oh, Terry Marie, I’m just going to Galveston. Not like I’m moving to Saskatchewan,” Sybil smiled, and they hugged again.
“Where’s…Sesketchiewan?” Benny mispronounced the word.
“Saskatchewan,” Sybil corrected. “Never mind.”
“If we’re all ready, let’s rock and roll,” Lynn said. “The night’s burning away.”
Copyright 2023 Wanda S. Paryla
The most recent thing I searched for online was book editors. I was researching them because I will need an professional editor soon.
A daily writing prompt asked me to share a secret skill or ability that I have or wish I had. I don’t necessarily wish it to be secret if I had it, but I wish I could comfortably speak in front of large groups of people. I wish I could sing. I always wanted to sing. But I am not sure if singing would take precedent over my desire play the piano or guitar. The truth is, I know that I cannot sing, but I am not sure that I could not learn to play piano or guitar. I did pick a few chords on guitar in my tween years and teens, but dropped it. I sure wish I had kept up with it.
But, since I cannot stand to be in front of large crowds, maybe none of those skills would have done me much good. 🙂
Exploring the World of Writing
Fantasy Author
Finding Hope Through Hardship
“All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
whispering life from the future
WANDA PARYLA 
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